Saturday, March 25, 2017

Agnes Hvizdalek - Index [Nakama Records 009]

Released on February 27th, 2k17 via the Norwegian Nakama Records imprint is "Index", the new 47 minutes spanning one-piece album unleashed by Agnes Hvizdalek, an experimental artist originally immersed in the scene of Vienna / Austria and now based in Oslo since 2008. Recorded in the heart of Sao Paulo on top of a 60 meters chimney, and therefore incorporating a background layer of the cities surface noise, we experience Agnes Hvizdalek's explorations of what the human voice is capable of, a journey into pure expression that forgoes the use of any words at all. Rather we're confronted with inhuman clicks, near silence breathes as well as superintense, and often hyperexposed, screams, squeals and moans, both clear as well as raw, distorted and stertorous, partly multilayered and defo pushing the limits far beyond what any average human being is - or should be... for good reasons! - capable of in terms of vocalization. Recorded dry and without any additional, let alone musical, processing "Index" provides nothing short of a well extreme listening experience which might be hardly bearable for many as being thrown back on our own via the unsettling nature of (in)human, yet human-created sounds can end up in a condition of ultimate angst and insecurity not many ppl are even willing to face these days. Therefore: a highly interesting album, this. Album artwork on Instagram!